Joan Kagezi
Confronting Extractivism & Corporate Power
Women human rights defenders (WHRDs) worldwide defend their lands, livelihoods and communities from extractive industries and corporate power. They stand against powerful economic and political interests driving land theft, displacement of communities, loss of livelihoods, and environmental degradation.
Why resist extractive industries?
Extractivism is an economic and political model of development that commodifies nature and prioritizes profit over human rights and the environment. Rooted in colonial history, it reinforces social and economic inequalities locally and globally. Often, Black, rural and Indigenous women are the most affected by extractivism, and are largely excluded from decision-making. Defying these patriarchal and neo-colonial forces, women rise in defense of rights, lands, people and nature.
Critical risks and gender-specific violence
WHRDs confronting extractive industries experience a range of risks, threats and violations, including criminalization, stigmatization, violence and intimidation. Their stories reveal a strong aspect of gendered and sexualized violence. Perpetrators include state and local authorities, corporations, police, military, paramilitary and private security forces, and at times their own communities.
Acting together
AWID and the Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition (WHRD-IC) are pleased to announce “Women Human Rights Defenders Confronting Extractivism and Corporate Power”; a cross-regional research project documenting the lived experiences of WHRDs from Asia, Africa and Latin America.
We encourage activists, members of social movements, organized civil society, donors and policy makers to read and use these products for advocacy, education and inspiration.
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"Women Human Rights Defenders confronting extractive industries: an overview of critical risks and Human Rights obligations" is a policy report with a gender perspective. It analyses forms of violations and types of perpetrators, quotes relevant human rights obligations and includes policy recommendations to states, corporations, civil society and donors.
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"Weaving resistance through action: Strategies of Women Human Rights Defenders confronting extractive industries" is a practical guide outlining creative and deliberate forms of action, successful tactics and inspiring stories of resistance.
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The video “Defending people and planet: Women confronting extractive industries” puts courageous WHRDs from Africa, Asia, and Latin America in the spotlight. They share their struggles for land and life, and speak to the risks and challenges they face in their activism.
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Challenging corporate power: Struggles for women’s rights, economic and gender justice is a research paper outlining the impacts of corporate power and offering insights into strategies of resistance.
Share your experience and questions!
Tell us how you are using the resources on WHRDs Confronting extractivism and corporate power.
◾️ How can these resources support your activism and advocacy?
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◾️ How can these resources support your activism and advocacy?
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Thank you!
AWID acknowledges with gratitude the invaluable input of every Woman Human Rights Defender who participated in this project. This project was made possible thanks to your willingness to generously and openly share your experiences and learnings. Your courage, creativity and resilience is an inspiration for us all. Thank you!
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Snippet FEA Criminalization of sex workers (EN)
Most Member States of the European Union have laws and practices that either criminalize or control sex workers in ways unacceptable to them. Criminalization of sex workers and/or their clients only contributes to increase the vulnerability of sex workers, who are already facing stigma, discrimination and exclusion from society on a daily basis. In Spain for example, the government is currently trying to pass an Organic Law for the Abolition of Prostitution, which will result in more clandestiny and violence. Let’s dive into the stories of sex workers and union organizers fighting to decriminilaze sex work and advance their labor rights.
Download your faciliation guide:
"A Feminist Approach to Understanding Illicit Financial Flows and Redirecting Global Wealth"
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This Guide is also available in Spanish and Russian
Thanks to the co-creators of this facilitation guide:
- Daniela Fonkatz and Ana Ines Abelenda (AWID)
- Zenaida Joachim (Mesoamericanas en Resistencia - El Salvador)
- Olga Shnyrova (Ivanovo Center for Gender Studies - Russia)
- Leah Eryenyu (Akina Mama Wa Afrika - Uganda)
- Daryl Leyesa (Oriang and PKKK/National Rural Women Congress - the Philippines)
Our values - Human Rights
Human rights
We believe in a full application of the principle of rights including those enshrined in international laws and affirm the belief that all human rights are interrelated, interdependent and indivisible. We are committed to working towards the eradication of all discriminations based on gender, sexuality, religion, age, ability, ethnicity, race, nationality, class or other factors.
Fadila M.
Fadila M. fue una activista tribal soulaliyate de Azrú, en la región Ifrane de Marruecos. Luchó contra una forma específica de discriminación territorial dirigida a las mujeres tribales.
Como parte del Movimiento de Mujeres Soulaliyate por el Derecho a la Tierra, trabajó para reformar el marco legislativo relacionado con la administración de la propiedad comunitaria, a través de la adopción, en 2019, de tres proyectos de ley que garantizan la igualdad de mujeres y varones.
Según las leyes consuetudinarias vigentes, las mujeres no tenían derecho a beneficiarse de la tierra, en especial aquellas que eran solteras, viudas o divorciadas. En Marruecos, los derechos a las tierras colectivas eran transmitidos tradicionalmente entre los varones de la familia mayores de 16 años. Desde 2007, Fadila M. ha sido parte del movimiento de mujeres, la primera movilización nacional de base por los derechos a la tierra. Una de sus conquistas ha sido que, en 2012, las mujeres soulaliyate pudieron registrarse por primera vez en las listas de beneficiarixs, y recibir compensaciones relacionadas con la cesión de tierras. El movimiento también logró la enmienda del dahir (decreto del Rey de Marruecos) de 1919, para garantizar el derecho a la igualdad de las mujeres.
Fadila M. falleció el 27 de septiembre de 2018. Las circunstancias de su muerte no son claras. Participó en una marcha de protesta relacionada con el tema de las tierras colectivas y, si bien las autoridades informaron que su muerte fue accidental y que tuvo un paro cardíaco camino al hospital, la sección local de la Asociación de Derechos Humanos de Marruecos (AMDH) señaló que Fadila fue sofocada por un miembro de la fuerza policial utilizando una bandera marroquí. Su familia solicitó una investigación, pero los resultados de la autopsia no fueron dados a conocer.
Más información sobre el Movimiento de Mujeres Soulaliyate por el Derecho a la Tierra (en inglés)
Nota: Como no ninguna fotografía/imagen de Fadila M. disponible, la obra de arte (en lugar de un retrato) pretende representar por lo que luchó y trabajó: la tierra y los derechos a vivir y tener acceso a esa tierra y lo que crece en ella.
Our arepa: Resistance from the Kitchen
by Alejandra Laprea, Caracas, Venezuela (@alejalaprea)
I live in a country of the impossible, where there are no bombs yet we are living in a war.
A war that exists only for those of us living in this territory.
I live in a country no one understands, which few can really see, where various realities co-exist, and where the truth is murdered time and again.
I live in a country where one has to pay for the audacity of thinking for oneself, for taking on the challenge of seeing life another way.
I live in a country of women who have had to invent and reinvent, time and again, how they live and how to get by.
I live in Venezuela, in a time of an unusual and extraordinary threat.
Since 2012 my country has been subjected to an unconventional war. There are no defined armies or fire power. Their objective is to dislocate and distort the economy, affecting all households, daily life, the capacity of a people to dream and build a different kind of politics, an alternative to the patriarchal, bourgeois, capitalist democracy.
Venezuelan women are the primary victims of this economic war. Women who historically and culturally are responsible for providing care, are the most affected and in demand. However, in these years of economic and financial embargo, Venezuelan women have gone from being victims to the protagonists on the front lines defending our territory.
Battles are fought from the barrios, kitchens, and small gardens. We defend the right of girls and boys to go to school, and to be given something so simple as some arepas for breakfast.
Arepas are a kind of corn cake that can be fried, roasted or baked and served sweet or savoury as a side or main dish. It is a staple in the diet of all Venezuelans.
In Venezuela, arepas mean culture, family, food sovereignty, childhood nostalgia, the expert hands of grandmothers molding little balls, the warmth that comforts you when recovering from illness.
Arepas connect us as a people with the pre-Colombian cultures of corn, a resistance that has endured for more than five centuries. They are the Caribbean expressed differently on firm ground.
They are an act of resistance.
When my mother was a girl, they would start grinding the dry corn early in the morning to make arepas. The women would get up and put the kernels of corn in wooden mortars and pound it with heavy mallets to separate the shells. Then they would boil, soak, and grind the corn to make dough, and finally they would mold it into round arepas. The process would take hours and demand a lot of physical effort.
In the mid-20th century a Venezuelan company industrialized the production of corn meal. For an entire generation that seemed like an act of liberation, since there was now a flour that you could simply add water to and have hot arepas in 45 minutes time.
But that also meant that the same generation would lose the traditional knowledge on how to make them from scratch. My grandmother was an expert arepa maker, my mother saw it as a girl, and for me the corn meal came pre-packaged.
In the war with no military, the pre-cooked corn meal came to be wielded as an instrument of war by the same company that invented it, which was not so Venezuelan anymore: today the Polar group of companies is transnational.
We women began to recuperate our knowledge by talking with the eldest among us. We searched in the back of the closets for our grandmothers’ grinders, the ones we hadn’t thrown away out of affection. Some families still prepared the corn in the traditional way for important occasions. In some towns there were still communal grinding stations which had been preserved as part of local history or because small family businesses refused to die. All of these forms of cultural resistance were activated, and we even went so far as to invent new arepas.
Today we know that in order to resist we cannot depend on one food staple. Although corn arepas continue to be everyone’s favourite, we have invented recipes for arepas made of sweet potato, cassava, squash, and celery root.
We have learned that we can use almost any root vegetable to make arepas. Cooperative businesses have developed semi-industrial processes to make pre-cooked corn meal. In other words, we have recuperated our arepas and their preparation as a cultural good that belongs to all.
“Entretejidas” [Interwoven women]
by Surmercé, Santa Marta (@surmerce)
My artivism aims to decolonize our senses in everyday life. I like to create spaces that communicate how we weave together our different struggles, and that render visible dissident (re)existences, other possible worlds, and living bodies here in the SOUTH.
“We carry one another towards the future”
by Marga RH, Chile, UK (@Marga.RH)
Let's take care of one another
As we continue to fight in our struggles, let us remember how essential it is that we support each other, believe each other, and love ourselves and our sisters. When this system fucks us over, we must take time to look after our (physical and mental) health, that of our sisters, and to understand that each one of us carries unique stories, making us fighters in resist
Until dignity becomes a habit
These portraits are inspired by the voices of resistance and protest movements in Latin America, especially by the key role that feminised bodies play in these struggles. It is a tribute to the grassroots feminist movements in resistance.
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Isabel Cabanillas de la Torre
Isabel Cabanillas de la Torre était une jeune artiste et activiste féministe très appréciée de Ciudad Juárez, au Mexique. Elle était connue pour ses belles peintures textiles, très expressives. Les yeux faisaient partie des représentations emblématiques de son travail. Ses peintures murales ont métamorphosé les immeubles décrépis et laissés à l’abandon du centre-ville de Ciudad Juárez, ornant leurs façades de messages de vie et de commentaires politiques.
Isabel voulait, à travers son art et son activisme politique, attirer l’attention sur les violences basées sur le genre omniprésentes dans sa ville natale. Elle était bénévole dans le réseau Mesa de Mujeres pour l’Observatoire citoyen sur le genre, qui supervise le travail des juges, procureurs et avocats de la défense dans les affaires de féminicides et autres violations basées sur le genre. Elle était également membre de Hijas de su Maquilera Madre, un collectif féministe dont le nom fait référence aux filles de mères qui travaillent dans les maquiladoras, ou zones de traitement pour l’exportation. Certaines de ces mères ont figuré parmi les premières victimes de féminicide dans la ville.
Le dernier projet d’Isabel, toujours en cours, était une installation artistique pour protester contre une entreprise canadienne qui cherchait à extraire du cuivre dans le désert de Samalayuca.
Le 18 janvier 2020, Isabel a été tuée par balle alors qu’elle rentrait chez elle à vélo dans le centre de Juárez, dansce qui semble avoir été un acte ciblé, son corps ayant été retrouvé à côté de son vélo.
Le meurtre d’Isabel a déclenché une nouvelle vague d’indignation contre les féminicides dans la région, des centaines de personnes ont manifesté jusqu’au pont frontalier entre le Mexique et les États-Unis, le bloquant pendant des heures et scandant « Ni Una Menos » (pas une de plus) alors que des collectifs féministes continuaient de manifester contre les meurtres de femmes dans tout le pays. Au cours de la seule année 2019, 3 142 femmes et filles ont été tuées au Mexique. Un grand nombre ont été spécifiquement ciblées du fait de leur genre.
Elle adorait faire du vélo.
« Le vélo était son symbole de liberté. Il symbolisait le fait d’être libre dans les rues. » - Marisol (une amie d’Isabel)
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« Où est l’argent pour l’organisation des mouvements féministes? »
En s’appuyant sur nos 20 années d’efforts pour la mobilisation de davantage de financements de meilleure qualité pour des changements sociaux menés par des féministes, l’AWID vous invite à répondre à la nouvelle version de notre enquête phare intitulée WITM
Snippet FEA Sabrina Sanchez Bio (FR)
Nous vous présentons Sabrina Sanchez, incroyable femme trans, migrante, travailleuse du sexe, organisatrice, transféministe et l'une des fondatrices du syndicat OTRAS.
Originaire de Mexico, elle a émigré en Espagne il y a 17 ans après avoir obtenu son diplôme en communication et a commencé à travailler comme travailleuse du sexe.
Il ne fallut pas longtemps avant qu'elle ne s'implique dans l'activisme trans et l'activisme des travailleur·euses du sexe à Barcelone. Après avoir rejoint l'Association des Professionnel·les du Sexe (Asociación de Profesionales del Sexo, Aprosex), elle a commencé à travailler dans son secrétariat et a fondé le syndicat espagnol des travailleur·euses du sexe OTRAS.
Elle vit actuellement à Amsterdam, où elle travaille comme coordinatrice de l'Alliance Européenne des Travailleur·euses du Sexe.
Fait divers: elle est aussi mécanicienne automobile et adepte de la course à pied!
Exposición en el Jardín de los Placeres
Estas obras son un trabajo colaborativo de fotografías e ilustraciones realizadas por Siphumeze y Katia durante el confinamiento. Muestran narrativas negras queer de sexo y placer, bondage, sexo seguro, juguetes, salud mental y sexo, y mucho más. Fueron creadas para acompañar la antología Touch.
About the Artists:
Siphumeze Khundayi es una creadora de arte, fotógrafa y facilitadora interesada en las formas creativas de unir el diálogo y la práctica artística en relación con la identidad queer africana.
Es directora creativa de HOLAAfrica!, una colectiva en línea mujerista panafricanista.
Sus trabajos de performance individual y en colaboración han sido presentados en numerosos festivales y espacios teatrales, tales como el Ricca Ricca Festival de Japón.
En 2017 y 2018 dirigió dos producciones que fueron nominadas a los Naledi Theatre Awards y, en 2020, obtuvo un premio Standard Bank Ovation.
Como fotógrafa, participó en Italia en una exposición grupal titulada Flowers of my Soul, organizada por The Misfit Project. Produjo tres publicaciones para HOLAAfrica!, y sus trabajos fueron publicados dentro y como tapa del Volume Two: As You Like de las Gerald Kraak Anthologies.
Es directora creativa de HOLAAfrica!, una colectiva en línea mujerista panafricanista.
Sus trabajos de performance individual y en colaboración han sido presentados en numerosos festivales y espacios teatrales, tales como el Ricca Ricca Festival de Japón.
En 2017 y 2018 dirigió dos producciones que fueron nominadas a los Naledi Theatre Awards y, en 2020, obtuvo un premio Standard Bank Ovation.
Como fotógrafa, participó en Italia en una exposición grupal titulada Flowers of my Soul, organizada por The Misfit Project. Produjo tres publicaciones para HOLAAfrica!, y sus trabajos fueron publicados dentro y como tapa del Volume Two: As You Like de las Gerald Kraak Anthologies.
Katia Herrera es una artista visual digital de 21 años, de la ruidosa ciudad de Santo Domingo, en la República Dominicana. A pesar de que se autodefine como introvertida, su obra es notablemente estruendosa en un mundo que intenta acallar las voces negras. Con títulos como “Black Woman” [«Mujer Negra»], “You Own the Moon” [«La Luna es Tuya»], “Earth Goddess” [«Diosa de la Tierra»], “Forever” [«Por Siempre»] y “Universe Protector” [«Protectora del Universo»], el legado de Herrera estará marcado por su pasión por poner de manifiesto la resistencia y la perseverancia de las personas negras del pasado y del presente, en contraposición a la narrativa de que la piel negra debería solamente ser asociada con la esclavitud.
Una de sus obras más hermosas y vivazmente tituladas, “Universe Protector”, representa al alma negra como una entidad divina plena de fortaleza, poder y grandeza. En su juventud, su amor por el diseño gráfico se vio estimulado por el talento artístico de su madre y su padre, y por el programa Photoshop que habían descargado en su computadora para su trabajo profesional de fotografía.
Una de sus obras más hermosas y vivazmente tituladas, “Universe Protector”, representa al alma negra como una entidad divina plena de fortaleza, poder y grandeza. En su juventud, su amor por el diseño gráfico se vio estimulado por el talento artístico de su madre y su padre, y por el programa Photoshop que habían descargado en su computadora para su trabajo profesional de fotografía.
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Le thème du 14e Forum international de l'AWID est «Réalités féministes : notre pouvoir en action».
Ce Forum célébrera et amplifiera les propositions audacieuses autour de nous, à tous les stades de déveoppement !
Kalpana Chakma
Mirna Teresa Suazo Martínez
Mirna Teresa Suazo Martínez was part of the Garifuna (Afro-descendent and Indigenous) Masca community, living on the North Caribbean coast of Honduras. She was a community leader and a fervent defender of the Indigenous territory, a land that was violated when the National Agrarian Institute of Honduras gave territorial licenses to people outside of the community.
This deplorable deed resulted in repeated harassment, abuse and violence against the Masca, where economic interests of different groups met those of Honduran armed forces and authorities. According to the Black Fraternal Organization of Honduras (OFRANEH), the strategy of these groups is to evict and exterminate the Indigenous population.
“Masca, the Garifuna community located next to the Cuyamel Valley, is part of the area of influence of one of the supposed model cities, a situation that has triggered territorial pressures along the Garifuna coast.” - OFRANEH, 8 September 2019
Mirna Teresa, president of the Board of Trustees of the Masca Community in Omoa, was also firmly rejecting the construction of two hydroelectric plants on the river that carries the same name as her community, Masca.
“The Garífuna community attributes the worsening of the situation in their region to their opposition to tourist exploitation, the monoculture of African palm and drug trafficking, at the same time that it seeks to build an alternative life through the cultivation of coconut and other products for self-consumption.” - Voces Feministas, 10 September 2019
Mirna Teresa was murdered on 8 September 2019 in her Restaurant “Champa los Gemelos”.
She was one of six Garifuna women defenders murdered between September and October 2019 alone. According to OFRANEH, there was no investigation by the authorities into these crimes.
“In the case of the Garífuna communities, a large part of the homicides are related to land tenure and land management. However, squabbles between organized crime have resulted in murders, such as the recent ones in Santa Rosa de Aguán.” - OFRANEH, 8 September 2019
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